Nicole: I’ll run with young hero George
Fundraiser wows X Factor judges
INSPIRING Pride of Britain winner George Mathias had the X Factor when he joined the show judges.
The heroic 11-year-old fundraiser won pledges from Nicole Scherzinger, 39, and host Dermot O’Leary, 44, to join him on his sponsored jogs.
So far he has completed 100 milelong runs and raised more than £35,000 for the hospital that saved the life of his premature baby brother.
George was invited to X Factor after he collected the Good Morning Britain Young Fundraiser trophy at the Daily Mirror Pride of Britain awards, in partnership with TSB, at Grosvenor House.
After meeting Nicole, Simon Cowell, Louis Walsh and Sharon Osbourne on Saturday, George said: “It was amazing. I was sitting really close – it was like being one of the judges.” His dad Richard said: “The judges greeted George like an old friend. Nicole said, ‘We need to run with you.’” The first £25,000 George raised for Liverpool’s Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, where James, now seven, spent five days in a coma, has bought four heated cots. Dermot aims to run with George next year, following the likes of stars Steven Gerrard, John Bishop and Jason Manford.